Shimotori Norio (born March 18, 1978) is a former

sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by th ...

wrestler from Arai,

Niigata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,131,009 (1 July 2023) and is the List of Japanese prefectures by area, fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area ...

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. A former amateur champion, he made his professional debut in 2000 and first reached the top division in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, although due to injuries he had trouble maintaining that position. He earned one special prize, for Fighting Spirit. His highest rank was ''

komusubi , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers ('' rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the o ...

''. He was forced to retire in April 2011 after an investigation by the

Japan Sumo Association The , officially the ; sometimes abbreviated JSA or NSK, and more usually called Sumo Kyōkai, is the governing body that operates and controls Professional sports, professional sumo wrestling, called , in Japan under the jurisdiction of the Min ...

found him guilty of

match-fixing In organized sports, match fixing (also known as game fixing, race fixing, throwing, rigging, hippodroming, or more generally sports fixing) is the act of playing or officiating a contest with the intention of achieving a predetermined result, v ...

Career

Shimotori competed in amateur sumo at

Tokyo University of Agriculture The , abbreviated as Nodai (農大, ''nōdai'') or Tokyo nodai (東京農大, ''Tōkyō nōdai''), is a private university of agriculture in Japan. Tokyo University of Agriculture is a Japanese private university headquartered at 1-1-1 Sakurag ...

, but did not manage to win a major national title. He was recruited by the Tokitsukaze stable and made his professional debut in May 2000, almost a year later than intended due to injuries from a traffic accident. Due to his amateur record he was given ''

makushita tsukedashi The following words are terms used in sumo wrestling in Japan. A B C D E F G H ...

'' status and began at the bottom of the third highest ''

makushita Professional sumo as administered by the Japan Sumo Association is divided into six ranked divisions. Wrestlers are promoted and demoted within and between these divisions based on the merit of their win–loss records in official tournaments. Fo ...

'' division. Shimotori reached ''

sekitori A ''sekitori'' (関取) is a '' rikishi'' (力士, sumo wrestler) who is ranked in one of the top two professional divisions: '' makuuchi'' and '' jūryō''. The name literally translates to having taken the barrier, as only a relatively small fr ...

'' status in May 2001 upon promotion to the second highest ''

jūryō Professional sumo as administered by the Japan Sumo Association is divided into six ranked divisions. Wrestlers are promoted and demoted within and between these divisions based on the merit of their win–loss records in official tournaments. Fo ...

'' division, and he made steady progress, rising to ''jūryō'' 3 by January 2002, where a 12-3 score and a playoff for the '' yusho'' or championship with Takamisakari earned him promotion to the top ''

makuuchi , or , is the top division of Professional sumo divisions, the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers (''rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous ...

'' division for March 2002. In July 2002 in only his third top division tournament he earned a ''

kinboshi is a notation used in professional sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part oth ...

'' or gold star for defeating Musashimaru in his first ever bout against a ''

yokozuna , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers ('' rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the o ...

'', easily the best win of his career. He was also awarded the Fighting Spirit

prize A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.

in this tournament. He was not able to follow up this promising performance however, and slipped back into the ''jūryō'' division briefly in 2003. In January 2004 he produced a strong 11-4 record from the ''maegashira'' 7 ranking (although fighting only his fellow ''maegashira'') and was promoted all the way to ''

'' for the March 2004 tournament. However he managed only a 6-9 score fighting all the top ranked wrestlers in his ''komusubi'' debut and never managed to return to the titled ''

sanyaku The following words are terms used in sumo wrestling in Japan. A B C D E F G H ...

'' ranks.

After missing the whole of the November 2005 tournament through injury Shimotori struggled to maintain his position in the top division, spending most of 2006 in ''jūryō''. He returned to the top division in March 2007, but his stay was short-lived as he was unable to compete at all in the May 2007 tournament due to a

herniated disk A disc herniation or spinal disc herniation is an injury to the intervertebral disc between two vertebrae, usually caused by excessive Strain (injury), strain or trauma to the Vertebral column, spine. It may result in back pain, pain or sensatio ...

suffered during training in April. In November 2007 he produced a 10-5 score at the rank of ''Jūryō'' 4 which was enough to earn promotion back to the top division for the January 2008 tournament. A recurrence of his injury in winning his opening bout forced him to withdraw from the rest of this tournament and sent him back in the ''jūryō'' division for another year. Shimotori ensured himself of his seventh promotion to the top division with his 10-5 performance at the rank of ''jūryō'' 2 in January 2009, and came through with a winning record at ''Maegashira'' 14 in March. He could score only 4-11 at ''Maegashira'' 8 in September 2009 but his final day victory over Masatsukasa kept him in the division. In the May 2010 tournament he was on the leaderboard early on after going 6-0 and then 8-2, although he finished on 10-5. This was his first top division winning record in double figures since January 2004. He maintained his top division position until he turned in a poor 2-13 record at ''Maegashira'' 11 in January 2011, which would have seen him demoted to ''juryo'' had the March 2011 tournament not been cancelled. Unusually for the sumo world, he used his family name as his fighting name. For a short interim from July 2007 until January 2008 he changed his fighting name to the similar sounding Shimoōtori, but returned to using his family name after it brought no change in fortune.

Retirement from sumo

Shimotori was one of 23 wrestlers found guilty of fixing the result of bouts after an investigation by the

, and he was forced to retire in April 2011. He also had to give up the rights to the elder name of Nishikijima which he would have used to stay in sumo as a coach.

Fighting style

Shimotori was a ''yotsu-sumo'' wrestler, preferring grappling techniques and grabbing his opponent's ''

mawashi In sumo, a is the loincloth that (sumo wrestlers) wear during training or in competition. Upper ranked professional wrestlers wear a as part of the ring entry ceremony or . ''Mawashi'' ''Sekitori'' During competition For top ranked profess ...

'' or belt. His favourite grip was ''migi-yotsu'', which is left hand outside, right hand inside his opponent's arms. His most common winning technique was ''yori-kiri'', a straightforward force-out, which accounted for roughly half his wins.

Career record

References

External links